190 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
distinct, as both inhabit the same forests, namely, those of the higher and drier lands, without mingling 
with each other, or intercrossing. They sleep all day long in hollow trees, and come forth to prey on 
insects and eat fruits only in the night. They are of small size, the body being about a foot long, and 
the tail fourteen inches, and are thickly clothed with grey and brown fur, similar in substance to that 
of the Rabbit. Their physiognomy reminds one of an Owl, or Tiger-Cat. The face is round, and 
encircled by a ruff of whitish fur ■ the muzzle is not at all prominent. The mouth and chin are small, 
the ears are very short, scarcely appearing above the hair of the head. The eyes are very large, and 
yellowish in colour, imparting the staring expression of nocturnal animals of prey. The forehead is 
whitish, and decorated with three black stripes, which in one of the species (Nyctip ithecus trivirgatus) 
THE RED- FOOTED DOUROUCOFLI. (From the Proceedings of the Zoological Society.) 
continue to the crown, and the other (N. felinus) meet on the top of the forehead. N. trivirgatus 
was first described by Humboldt, who discovered it on the banks of the Cassigniare, near the head 
waters of the Rio Negro. One cannot help being struck by this curious modification of the American 
type of Monkeys, for the Owl-faced Night Apes have evidently sprung from the same stock as the rest 
of the Cebidse, as they do not differ much in all essential points from the Whaiapurais (Callithrix), and 
the "Sia-miiis ( Chrysothrix ). They have nails of the ordinary form on all their fingers, and semi- 
opposable thumbs ; but the molar teeth, contrary to what is usual in the Cebidse, are studded with 
sharp points, showing that their food is principally insects. I kept a pet animal of the N. trivirgatus 
for many months, a young one being given me by an Indian companion, as a present from my newly- 
baptised godson. These Monkeys, although sleeping by day, are aroused by the least noise, so that 
when a person passes by a tree on which a number of them are concealed, he is startled by the sudden 
apparition of a group of little striped faces crowding a hole in the trunk. It was in this way that my 
companion discovered the colony from which the one given to me was taken, I was obliged to keep my 
pet chained up ; it therefore never became thoroughly familiar. I once saw, however, an individual of 
